The Real Rule 12
by moonfaerie326
Summary: Gibbs' thoughts on Rule 12, and the hidden meaning behind the rule. TIVA McABBY JIBBS


The rule was set to ward off office flings; he did not need to have a bunch of horny employees going at one another and then letting their relationship interfere with their work – however brief it may have been. The rule was not to dissuade true love, nor had it ever been, he knew if that were to come along no rule would stand in the way of it. He wasn't worried.

When DiNozzo first joined the team he hadn't been sure that the rule would even stop him from having an office fling, but he saw the way he and Abby had interacted and he knew he didn't need to worry.

The longer DiNozzo was with him, the more Gibbs began to realize that he respected his opinion; no matter how crass DiNozzo could be he looked up to Gibbs and he knew that he wouldn't risk gaining his respect for just any woman.

Then Kate had joined the team, Gibbs could admit that made him a little worried. She was an attractive woman, Tony was a playboy and Gibbs thought it would spell disaster, but still it didn't. He stated his rule a few times, testing the air to see if what Kate and Tony had was something more; but neither acted. They just bickered like brother and sister and his worry fell away.

Then McGee came into their lives, and he had started dating Abby. Gibbs wasn't worried so much about the rule then, he'd been more worried for Abby, she was like a daughter to him, and he did not want to see her get hurt. But he knew McGee, and he could tell that the young man was far too kind to deliberately hurt anyone, so he turned a blind eye on their relationship; because you can never know if you've found true love unless you try.

McGee and Abby's relationship fell away; there had been pain, yes, but there had been little suffering, and for that Gibbs was thankful. McGee had joined their team then, and he and Abby could still work together without past conflicts interfering with their work, he was proud of them, so he once again looked past rule 12 when their looks toward one another began to soften once again.

Then Kate had died, he'd felt he lost another piece of himself and he briefly wondered how much more he could take before he was completely lost, but he kept his head held high and promised himself he would continue to hold on. He was not done yet, he still had a lot to accomplish; he could feel it in his gut and he always trusted his gut.

His sadness over Kate turned to anger at Ari, he promised himself he would get the bastard. He would not rest until he was six feet under and Kate could rest in peace. He threw himself into his work, but he was thrown for a loop when he saw Jen again and he remembered how rule 12 came into play. Close quarters with tangled limbs and sweaty sheets turned into broken hearts and empty homes. His pain was refreshed for Kate and for his fallen relationships but his resolve remained as hard as steel.

He kept his words to her as professional as he could, but he could feel remnants of past encounters slipping through at the most inopportune moments, but he let it slide because that was who he was after all.

Not long after he was reunited with Jen, he met Ziva. He didn't miss the way Tony's eyes raked over her form while he filled him in on the situation nor did he miss the stuttered excuse he gave when Gibbs had stated he wanted him on her tail. He had sighed, but he did not enforce rule 12 in the slightest because she was not part of the team, or country for that matter.

He remembered the time where he did not trust Ziva; and then he remembered when that trust had come flooding to him like a waterfall as she put a bullet through her own brothers head. He felt a wave of guilt as she stood over Ari's broken body, crying; but he could not feel remorse for the bastard; he just wished she had said something sooner, but that was his first moment in realizing Ziva David was a tough cookie to crack.

Then came Paula and he thought he was going to have to tattoo rule 12 across Paula's and DiNozzo's forehead, sure there was something there between them but it was not love, Gibbs could see it plain as day. Then the whole Kyle Boone thing crossed and Paula had went back to her unit and now it was only him, DiNozzo, and McGee; he did not feel the need to enforce rule 12 between the two of them so he let it drop.

That was until he stepped off the elevator one Monday morning only to come face to face with Ziva David. He'd stormed up to Jen's office because he knew that something were to happen if he had to put Tony and Ziva together on a team, he had to fight it because he did not know if it would be love. That was when worry had first struck him.

He remembered walking down the steps defeated, he had seen Tony's heated look between the magazine he had flipped open and Ziva; and it was then that Gibbs knew their pull was undeniable.

Days passed and then they'd been forced undercover as a married couple, he did not know what happened in that room nor did he care to find out but he did know that everything had increased tenfold. The playful teasing and the lingering looks were back and he could feel the tension from miles away. It wasn't just lust anymore, they had begun to care around that time and he had thought maybe they had a chance at love; but that didn't stop him from reminding them of rule 12.

The Jeanne thing had come and gone; and he remembered Ziva's concern and he knew in those moments that she was in love with Tony, he played it off as nothing, even joked about it sometimes because he did not know what Tony's feelings were and he did not want to tell them real rule 12 until he knew they both were in love.

But now as he sat at his desk and stared between the two of them he knew the truth. They were in love; with them there was everything there should be passion, head and romance, with a side of witty banter and he thought maybe, just maybe he should let them in on his secret, because after everything that they'd been through together it was time they had someone else to lean on.

**WROTE THIS BEFORE WORK. BAHH. I felt it needed to be written, its not well-written or anything but I kind of like it. I haven't written Gibbs often so I hope he is in character I really do. Thank you so much for reading. Please review! I am off to work now. I don't know when I will update next.**


End file.
